Manny
Manny (short for Manannan) was a former goblin and one of the Knights of Daventry in the King's Quest: Adventures of Graham. He was the shortest of the competing knights, and lacking neither brawn or courage is considered the smart one. Later he used a cosmolotion and became an elderly human. Over the years he became one of the worlds most powerful wizards and the adversary of King Graham. He is based on the character Manannan from the original King's Quest series canon. Background Manannan was originally a goblin who later became victim of a baby swapping prank. His parents chose to get rid of Mordon and replace him with Manny insteadUnused information, see Baby Swap to raise him as their own, preferring the company of a goblin (because Goblin babies have the tendency to go to bed on time and rarely cry). Growing up he developed an incredible intellect and began to practice magic and learn several languages. Eventually he set his sights to the throne of the now declining Kingdom of Daventry. He forged a suit of armor to conceal himself, and entered the knight tournament, knowing it was his best chance at procuring favor from the king. He arrived on time and was the fourth and final knight in line in the welcoming parade. Manny quickly took his time to study the other competitors, even though he already recognized them from knowledge, or the meeting the had had prior. He realized that Achaka and Graham were his biggest threats. Noticing Grams naïve, kind and trusting nature he began to forge an alliance with him introducing himself by his nickname Manny. Before this however he made sure to cross the bridge without his help and then thank him for helping the others, something he noticed Graham wished. Then he began to disguise his personality as a respectful and friendly knight, however he could not hold from self praise. In an effort to both hide this and compliment Graham, he began to praise him as well. However he would later admit he had already began to hated Grahams behavior and regard him as a idiot. Now that he was certain Graham had been taken care of, he began to work on tricking Achaka. He was the only one who spoke Achakas language (or at least a variant of it) so he managed isolate him from the others. Knowing of the knights bravery, he told him about a dragon who lived bellow the well of Daventry which he would be unlikely to survive. He may have even exaggerated the dragons weakness or the danger of the quest to further convince him. This was all done in an effort to get Achaka killed. He faced no trouble at finding an eye of a hideous beast, as he had already purchased and entire jar from the Hobblepots store. He probably purchased the entire delivery in order to both appear impressive and make sure none of the other competitors could. After Graham proved himself by also collecting an eye, Mannanan begun to see him as a way to assure his victory. Soon he out about his success in tricking Achaka and sending him to his death, an event he would remember proudly. However, noticing Graham's wish to give up he made up a story about a tribal village which Achaka had sworn to save. By this lie he convinced Graham that by continuing on he would be fufiling his final wishes. Manny then made sure to put Graham against Acorn in strength and Whisper in speed, knowing that he could easily beat both in the opposite duels. Now certain his knighthood was assured he began breaking his façade, showing himself as abusive, insulting and superior behavior towards the other competitors. Despite his satisfaction he still remained true to his alliance with Graham, both because he found him the most inferior and to keep the value of his word. He did his best to cheat Graham into victory while acting abusively towards Acorn and Whisper, even basing his entire strategy on mocking them on a personal level, giving rise to his sadistic nature. Once his plan came into full fruition he set up a final scheme to assure his victory. Using a game of hypnotic powder he had trained on he hypnotized Graham. Now absolutely certain he would win, as he controlled his opponents moves, he completely dropped the act and revealed his true nature shocking both Graham and the guards near with his sick and evil nature. After his victory the guards Kyle and Larry jumped upon the board and cleared it before a formal account could be made which forced a rematch. Despite this he remained confident he would win still and did the same game with the powder hoping for the same results. However, Graham used a color changing potion to assure himself a safe cup. Manny, also getting a safe cup, was disappointed but was still completely confident he would win and continued to insult him and his friends, showing more of his psychopathic mentality. However, despite all odds Graham won and was declared the winner of the tournament. Manny refused to accept the results and challenged him to a duel in which Graham also emerged the victor. Still not accepting defeat he requested another duel, which Graham denied him giving him instead a speech about how sometimes even the most skilled may falter at their craft. While the speech moves everyone in the crowd Manny remained unaffected and began to use Achakas village as a desperate excuse for a rematch. However, he misremembers the made up name and Graham quickly realized his trick. Surrounded by his enemies and defenseless, Manny fled on his steed. Despite what the people of Daventry assumed, Manny did not give up on his quest to rule and instead began to look for other ways to obtain it. Since that day he began to see Graham as his rival and arch-enemy swearing to one day destroy him. Through the following years he made a home in Hornswaggles cave and enslaved the dragon. He also began to hear tales of Grahams adventures and reputation, which only fuled his obsessive hatred for him. He stole at the very least one of the treasures of Daventry, the Magic Mirror, and left it in the care of the dragon. After Graham became king he became absolutely determined to destroy him and the foolish town which had supported him. To get his revenge he crafted a story for the goblins, knowing that in recreating it they would trap Graham and all the others in the kingdom and they would eventually die of starvation. Despite this failing, Manny found the man who had once been switched with him as babies, who had been named Mordon (by his goblin parents), and decided to care of him and teach him English and his skill in magic, eventually calling him his brother. Years later he became involved with the witch Hagatha, with both he an his brother purchasing from Hagatha. At some point he determined that while his mind was incredible, his body was too weak and small to accomplish his goals and he was in need of a disguise so he could move about Daventry again. He began working with Hagatha's recipe for a 'cosmolotion' with plans to change his own form and become human. During this time he briefly encountered Graham, who had transported to his home by accident, and tried to capture and kill him. However he failed and Graham escaped again. Despite this, Graham failed to learn Manny's plans and the cosmolotion was successful, changing his body into that of an old withered man. This body proved to be superior as Mannanan quickly began to use complex spells with ease and quickly became one of the most powerful wizards in the world. After many years in plot he finally executed his revenge. He invaded the castle of Daventry singlehandedly knocked out several guards and killed Larry. He gave them all of them chance to surrender and flee, which most refused. However, he was far from merciful knocking a guard out by choking them, and leaving Kyle to suffer the death of his partner. Entering the royal bedroom he encountered Graham once again, this time easily besting him and his wife, Queen Valenice. Despite this he chose not to kill either and instead came up with a far more cruel plan. Seeing a recently born Prince Alexander in a crib, he decided to kidnap him and raise him to be a monstrous as himself then later return with him, now with his ideals and wishes as truth in the boys mind. He was disappointed by the boy's name and renamed him Gwydion, a name he found fitting for his slave. Indeed, after successfully escaping the castle Mannanan returned to his cave briefly leaving behind a tiny bit of Alexander's blanket. Before he could be found by Graham, he fled Daventry, moving to Graham's former homeland of Llewdor (KQGS) taking over a mansion, which he turned it into a school for magic, becoming the brutal and feared ruler of the people there. He along with Mordon's help began enslaving the locals, teaching them, and forcing them to learn magic, creating a group of followers and allies known as the Brotherhood (KQGS). Mordon continued to remain at his side and under Manny's control. Manny raised 'Gwydion' as his 'son', but treated him (much like he treated Mordon) and other citizens of Llewdor, no better than a work boy and another of his slaves. When raising the boy he displayed coldness and cruel, sadistic and unfair attitude possibly as a way to convey the hatred he had felt for Graham and all humans through the years. Despite this he made sure to share with him his immense knowledge and teach him how to use magic himself, even allowing to study the book that taught Manny everything he knew about magic: The Sorcery of Old (KQGS). All of this was with the plans that he would someday lead an army of wizards to conquer Daventry and usurp Graham becoming the king in his place. He was successful raised his captive for eighteen years. Until one day the boy grew tired of the sadistic punishments he received from the cruel wizard. Mannanan's trust of Alexander proved his undoing as the boy learned of a transformation spell and made a batch of cookies with them. Mannanan fell for the trick and ate the cookies, which in turn transformed him into the form of a cat. Alexander escaped his 'father', decided to travel to Daventry (either based on information that Mannannan had told him about the kingdom, or by information he had learned by other means). It is not known how long the journey took (but seems to have been at least a few months). Meanwhile, Manannan and Mordack left or fled Llewdor, but with the purpose of setting up their next plan and take revenge on Alexander and the entire family. Traveling to Hagatha's former tower, they found the amnesiac and slightly mad former best friend of Queen Valanice (also named Valanice) who had become cold and friendless over the years as she slowly transformed into ice. Using some more of the Cosmolotion he 'enhanced' his now cat form, transforming himself into a giant Sphinx (cat like creature with wings and a human-like face), he also gave her a mind-controlling crown and further manipulated her into becoming as cruel and malevolent as himself and turned her into his servant under a false guise of friendship, and she began calling herself Icebella. Under his manipulation, she began to expand the tower building an Ice Labyrinth around it, and installing within it a maze of puzzles to make sure her victims could not escape her. Many victims possibly explorers or victims forced there, came to the labyrinth to test the traps, but were not successful. Their now frozen bodies scattered throughout labyrinth. He abided his time knowing that the Royal Family would feel nostalgic to see old friends, and would return to visit them, and the location where their romance had begun so many years before. He made sure the region was advertised as a resort to draw in the family for a vacation, setting the stage for his next revenge. Once the family reached the Labyrinth he insured they were trapped there, and quickly separated the men from the women. The women were taken to the Ice Tower where they were held captive, while Graham and Alexander were forced to solve puzzles to reach them before they were killed by Icebella. Mannanan now as the Sphinx manipulated both the entire way. However, both successfully reached Icebella, after Graham narrowly escaped Icebella's wrath, destroying Manannan's stockpile of Cosmolotion, and met back up with Alexander, and both reunited with the family, they all worked to convince Icebella that they were here true friends, and that Manny had manipulated her all along. Just as she was about to return to her former friend Manny in anger slashed at the frozen queen, shattering her into slabs of ice. Alex used his newly learned skill of archery to shoot a cat cookie into Manannan's face once more turning him back into a cat. Mordon who had been hiding in the shadows the entire time chose to break away and lead his own life, and decided to rename himself Mordack, and finish his own magical studies to become a wizard. He took his brother and what remained of the Cosmolotion and fled to Serenia. Manannan still continued to manipulate and control his brother, and some decades later helped concoct a plan of revenge to kidnap Graham's family by shrinking them and kidnapping them back to his lair. Graham escaped, and traveling across Serenia finally reached the wizard. During a magic duel, and sensing defeat Mordack hid under the floor boards of his lair, and Manny and Mordon escaped again. Manny continued to cruely manipulate his brother and at some point slashed his brother across the face leaving a deep scars as a reminder that he was the one in control, and "Mordon" was still his "younger brother" and slave. And it was over the course of about thirty years, that Manny continues to make Mordon/Mordack work on trying to make more Cosmolotion as the remainder was or had run out, and he needed it at this point to stay alive. Manny at some point even challenged Samhain for his life and won magic goblets and a poison from the underworld along with it. With this and knowing his mortality was still coming quickly, and it was only Mordack that was keeping him alive with his own energy, that he decided to get one last revenge on Graham before the end came. Traveling again to Daventry he attacked the kingdom starting fires and trapping everyone in the castle while Graham was outside of it. He challenged Graham to prove his strength, mind, and character and once proven that he was still an adventurer. The tests were actually an attempt to get Graham to find ingredients he needed to create a crystal that would restore his body back into human form, and keep him alive for much longer. After regaining his form and life, he forced Graham into having yet another Duel of Wits this time solving a series of progressively more difficult puzzles, each being an attempt to get Graham to drink mind control powder so that he could order Graham to give over his kingdom to the goblin rule. After Graham successfully beat his puzzles to his chagrin, he had one final obstacle, a duel to the death using goblets with a corrosive poison. Graham could not back out the final duel or the poison would be poured onto the castle destroying it. Graham selflessly did the only option he could think of that would save his family trapped inside, and that was to grab the poison in his own hands (rather than drinking it). Manannan was angered at losing again by Graham finding an answer outside of the challenge's rules that he decided to torture and kill the king himself using his own magic. As Graham was thrown about and suffering. Mordack remembered that it had been Graham who saved him so many years before from the Goblins not Manannan. He stepped in to defend Graham, but Mordack turned his attention and anger to Mordack. He stated that Mordack was no longer a part of the Brotherhood. While Manannan was distracted, the crystal keeping Manannan alive was shattered causing Manannan to revert back into the other forms he had held in the past, before poofing out of existence, not even a body left to bury. He was never seen again after that as far as its known. Graham and Mordack became friends after that. Personality and traits One of his striking physical traits that appears in all his forms is his piercing green eyes. Over the years he became convinced of the mistreatment of his people and thus chose to use his intellect to help him reach power both to prove the value of his kind and satisfy his ego. In fact, he became so convinced that ruling was his destiny that he developed a ruthless, machiavellian attitude in which he deemed nothing wrong as long as it would lead him to power. He also began to show some slight sadistic tendencies due to a combination of his feelings of superiority, his ruthless nature, and the hatred he felt towards other species for the mistreatment of goblins. Due to being the smartest of his kind, he slowly developed a superiority, and a prideful attitude, This character lies, and he lies a lot. One should take anything and everything he says with a 'grain of salt'. Manny is a master of disguise, including shape shifting and other feats. Manny's alignment is more 'intelligence', 'smart' and 'knowledge' than 'wisdom'. He is certainly not aligned to the positive 'wisdom' of the virtues (he views Graham as the 'Moron' or the 'Imbecile'). He marginally aligned to 'Bravery' path, but only if Graham didn't collect the dragon's eye (in which he gives Graham a jar of eyes), see Tapestry of Time. As a 'father' he never served sweets. Titles and Nicknames *Manannan (his full name, and the name he makes his slaves call him) *Manny (only what he lets his friends call him, ironically "friends" happens to be the word he uses for his slaves) *Master *The Sphinx *Goblin Sorcerer Manannan See also *Manannan *Manannan Mac Lir Behind the scenes He is played by Wallace Shawn, the actor who played Vizzini in the The Princess Bride movie. Some of the events surrounding the character in Chapter 1 and Chapter 5 is also inspired by Vizzini, including the 'drinking game'/'duel wits'. He is character a returning character that appears in later episodes. Manny appears to short for Manannan (this becomes more relevent by chapter 3). He appears to be in league with Hagatha or at least he uses her services. He does have an unhealthy interest in the magic of the The Hobblepots, knows a bit too much about the goblins (who are stealing the beds, and putting them in the Dragon cave), is known to be manipulating them, and has ties to Mordon (who becomes the young Mordack) He is known to be a goblin himself, in league with the other goblins. By Chapter 3 it is now known that he is the magic user controlling the Well Dragon (so partially inspired by the Sorcerer/Enchanter from KQ1), Hornswaggle ujsing Hagatha (KQGS)'s book. He becomes the human form Manannan by the end of the chapter. Although he was in goblin for when the mirror was stolen, and the mirror was likely stolen by goblins. Another departure from the original KQ tale. Manny may also be a pun based reference to the term Mannikan or manikin which simply means 'small'. "a person who is very small, especially one not otherwise abnormal or deformed." Manny's 'old' model in Chapter 3 after his transformation uses Graham90s model, but only shows his arm. This was used as a placeholder. A sketch made in How to Tame Your Dragon book appears to show what Manannan as well (this can only be seen by opening up the graphic files in a model viewer). Some fan theories believe he is the estranged missing son of Hobblepots, others believe it may be Acorn (KQGS). An interesting detail noticeably about this character when he is not wearing a helmet is that he has deep green eyes. His counterpart in the original canon was noted for his 'coal black eyes', except his cat form which had yellow or gold eyes depending on the version. Or blue eyes as a cat in Companion, or blue-green eyes in a specific scene in KQ5VGA. Manny still retains his ability for humanoid speech while in his cat form. In the original canon its strongly implied that Graham could only communicate with Manannan due to the white snake he injested. Otherwise Manannan acts just like a cat, and his own brother may not even be able to communicate with him directly. References Category:Characters (KQC1) Category:Knights of Daventry (KQGS) Category:Characters (KQC2) Category:Changelings Category:Stone Goblins Category:Characters (KQC3) Category:Wizards (KQGS) Category:Humans (KQGS) Category:Characters (KQC4) Category:Characters (KQC5) Category:Llwedor Category:Cats Category:Sphinxes Category:Bravery Category:Villains (KQGS) Category:Wisdom Category:Fathers (KQGS) Category:Sorcerers (KQGS) Category:Bosses Category:Masters Category:Reoccuring characters (KQGS) Category:Enchanters (KQGS) Category:Brotherhood (KQGS) Category:Sorcerers